DISCLAIMER

The following is a staff memorandum or other working document 
prepared for the members of the Advisory Committee on Human
Radiation Experiments.  It should not be construed as representing
the final conclusions of fact or interpretation of the issues. 
All staff memoranda are subject to revision based on further 
information and analysis.  For conclusions and recommendations of
the Advisory Committee, readers are advised to consult the Final
Report to be published in 1995.


		  DRAFT FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES ONLY


MEMORANDUM


TO:	   Members of the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation
	   Experiments

FROM:	   Advisory Committee Staff

DATE:	   November 9, 1994

RE:	   Questions to Consider in the Context of Memo on Total
	   Body Irradiation Research on Radioresistant Cancers,
	   1940-74



1.	Did the Department of Defense's military interest in the 
	effects of total-body irradiation on healthy persons
	result in the inappropriate exposure of ill persons to
	potentially harmful radiation?

2.	Once it was determined that the DOD could not experiment with
	total-body irradiation on healthy persons, was the DOD 
	justified in pursuing this line of inquiry with people who 
	were ill:

	a.	on scientific grounds?
	b.	on ethical grounds?

3.	What were the DOD's obligations with respect to the ethics of
	the work done by its medical contractors, including the 
	underlying clinical practices?

4.	What ethical concerns are raised when physicians use money to
	support clinical or research activities, when the funder's
	intent is to address questions other than medical care or 
	medical science?

5.	Would these experiments be permitted today?

	a.	Was the harm/benefit ratio acceptable?
	b.	Were the consent procedures adequate?
	c.	Were the subject selection criteria appropriate?
	d.	At what point do preliminary data about mortality
		(or other negative outcomes) require stopping of
		the project or explicit disclosure of such risk?